This was written in response to a comment made about "Liberty is Intrinsic to the Divine"
The first point about the persecuted church, I can't disagree with. Many Christians have made a very difficult and noble choice. I only hope I could do the same, though I pray I will never have to.
As for the second point, I never said that we should not teach people about morality. It is necessary for those that know to teach those that don't know. However, as a body, the Church has proven many times that they do not always have an enlightened view on moral issues. Quite frankly, the Church has been on the wrong side of many moral issues over the last two thousand years. This doesn’t make Christians bad people, just people, and every person on this planet is still learning. Of course we know the basics, don't kill, don't steal, and don't lie. Most people know these basic tenets of humanity. Even those that don't care to follow a path of civility know these rules. It's the gray area were everyone gets confused.
The Churches' view on these gray areas change. We (by we, I mean the Church) have gone through our own Era of Christian Jihad, we have murdered in the name of God, we have used the Word to rationalize bigotry and in the past we have tortured and thrown people in dungeons. We have proven many times that the Church does have the capacity to use poor judgment when it comes to morality and we are still learning. We continue to deepen our understanding of what God wants from us.
I couldn't agree more when you say, "In America, we get to have our own views on life so why not teach a good biblical concept of morality. Where the choice and freedom arises is at the point where people accept the teaching or reject it. The church should be a moral compass in a nation, not bring judgment on those who disagree but leading the way to truth." Of course we should teach our children and those that seek it, our best understanding of these issues.
When you say, "We don't take a stand to be obstinate but to obey God!" The reality is that we often try to force others to obey God as well. We do this by trying to create laws that prohibit people from exercising their free will to follow or not to follow God's law. I'm not naive enough to think that we don't need laws. However, I am idealistic enough to believe that our laws should be used to protect us from each other, not to protect us from making choices that others, who don't know us and have never tried to know us, don't approve of. This is most apparent in the Church's continuous support of laws that impede upon the free will of homosexuals and gamblers.
I’m not arguing the merits of God’s Law. I’m speaking to the contradiction that if an all powerful God does not force us to follow His laws, should we force His laws upon others. Conservatives often claim that liberty is under attack by the Left. The truth is the idea of free will has been under attack by the Right for quite some time. Perhaps conservatives are interested in only protecting the liberty to do things that they like to do. Too many people on the Right believe any other behavior is not liberty, it’s just liberal.
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